Chepen, Peru. Day 2. Absolute contentment. 🙂
After what turned out to be a total of 30hrs of bus rides, Team Collision finally made it safely to Peru and got settled into our new home. We live cozily in our tents in Sunday school classrooms of a church. It is their winter, but it feels just like my favorite season, Fall. Every morning we sip coffee, hot pineapple juice (actually very delicious), hot coco, or tea. =) Our new Peruvian family consists of Pastor Juan and his wife Marta, their three children, aunts and uncles, and their little dog named….wait for it….Doggie. Last night, team members separated into groups of two and went into various homes of church members for Bible studies. We worshipped and sang songs that I recognized from our worship services in Ecuador. Then an amazing woman of God, who also happens to be our amazing cook, gave a message from Mark 10. What's cool about this is that she spoke about humility and serving like Christ. Here I am as a missionary who has come to serve the Peruvians, yet she has spent her entire day cooking and serving me. THAT right there is the kind of person who is really living the message that she preaches. I was so inspired. Her life of servitude screams out "Christian!" because she is truly Chrsit-like. After the study, she gave us pound cake, empenadas, and coffee…as if I needed any more food after being served a tremendous-sized dinner and my teammate's birthday cake. It was then that I (in some good old-fashioned Spanglish) asked if I could call her my Tia Cecilia (Aunt Cecilia). Suddenly she reached across the table and grabbed me into a hug and yelled something along the lines of "Lorena is my neice!" and proceeded to point at other church members and yell out that they were my uncles and cousins. I yelled "Este es mi familia!"…. That's the grand thing about knowing Christ. You can sit in a living room full of people from a differnet country, race, language, and culture and feel like family because you have the most important thing about life in common with one another…Jesus.
The view from my bedroom, with the pastor's house just ahead.
Aunt Cecilla and I, in front of the church. She put the flower in my hair. This picture was taken after we spent the afternoon going into homes and praying for sick people.
My team, having some fun painting as our service to the church.
Mark 10: 43-45 The Message says, "…Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served – and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage."
Isn't that amazing!? Ch-yeah it is! Not only did the God of the entire universe humble himself to the form of man and live a life of servitude to the loweliest of people; He was mocked, beaten, and nailed to a cross. He did this not because He couldn't stop those who crucified Him, but because He knew the pain was worth enduring so that you and I might have eternal life.
Back to my story….So, after saying goodbye to all my aunts, uncles, and cousins (haha!), and screaming bloody murder in the street because the "shadow" of a dog scared me (His bark was fierce, okay!), I and my teammate Lindsay were escourted back to the church. No joke, I felt like I had time-traveled back into the 50's. It was dark with only a few street lights. A few people were on the narrow road that was lined by a few small diners and very old buildings. There are very few cars and the ones they do have are old-timey. Petite sized, antiquish taxi carriages drove by every now and then. (This country is very different from its sister countries of Ecuador and Bolivia. I have never been to Italy, but it's what I would imagine it to look like.) I looked up at the stars thinking it was so very cool that my friends back home could see those exact same stars. Then up ahead was a very large hill. It's the same hill that can be seen from my bedroom at the church. The unique aspect of this very large hill is what lies at the top of it…three white crosses and a statue of Jesus Christ. There is also a visible path that leads to the top. Along the path you can see Jesus carrying His cross. All were lit up by lights, making it the most beautiful view.
Not only can I not wait until Monday when I get to climb to the top of the hill to experience it up close, but every time I see it I can't help but think of the people in this town. They really are people just like you and I. I'm sure many of them have 9-5pm jobs, families, kids, and daily chores. I wonder how many people in this town see that hill top during their everyday lives, yet have no clue what the cross represents- have no clue that the message behind it is ALIVE today- have no clue that Jesus carried that cross for them. It made me think….How can we see Jesus all the time, yet completely and utterly miss the message of salvation!? How can we celebrate Christmas time with mangers and "Jesus is the reason for the season" greeting cards, sit through church services every Easter…or maybe even our entire lives, and completely MISS IT!? The Christian life is about more than labeling yourself as a Christian under the religion tab of the SAT or even doing mission work. It all means nothing if we don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7: 21-23 The Message- Jesus says, "Knowing the correct password – saying 'Master, Master,' for instance – isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience – doing what my Father wills. I can see it now-at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
I'm at peace knowing that when my day comes to meet the Lord, He will not turn to me and say "I never knew you, depart from me." But, I don't have peace about those who are still looking up at that hill, yet completely missing the boat. It's there. It's waiting. There will be a day when it's too late, but we have now.
　
Don't miss it.
